TFW (TIFF World File)

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Introduction

TFW file (TIFF World File) is a text file used in GIS to store geographic reference information of TIFF format raster images. It defines the mapping relationship between pixel coordinates and geographic coordinates through affine transformation parameters. is a text file used in GIS to store geographic reference information of TIFF format raster images. It defines the mapping relationship between pixel coordinates and geographic coordinates through affine transformation parameters.

File Structure

TFW files are in plain text format and contain 6 lines of values that define the geographic reference information of TIFF images, as follows:

Line 1: Geographic size of pixels in the X direction (horizontal) (e.g. 10 meters/pixel).
Line 2: Horizontal rotation parameters (usually 0, indicating no rotation).
Line 3: Vertical rotation parameters (usually 0, indicating no rotation).
Line 4: Geographic size of pixels in the Y direction (vertical) (negative values indicate the Y axis is downward).
Line 5: Geographic X coordinate of the center of the pixel in the upper left corner of the image.
Line 6: Geographic Y coordinate of the center of the pixel in the upper left corner of the image.

Pros

**Simple and efficient: **the text format is easy to parse, the file size is small, and it supports fast loading and geolocation;
**Strong compatibility: **it can be directly read by mainstream GIS software (such as ArcGIS, QGIS), and can be used in combination with GeoTIFF to expand geographic reference capabilities.

Cons

Functional limitations: only supports affine transformation, cannot handle complex projection transformation or three-dimensional coordinate system;
High dependency: needs to be used with TIFF files. If the image file is damaged or lost, the georeference information will be invalid.

Application Scenario

It is suitable for scenarios where spatial positioning needs to be provided for raster images (such as orthophotos and remote sensing images). It is often used in map making, geographic registration and spatial analysis to ensure that the images are correctly superimposed on the geographic coordinate system in GIS software.